21-year-old student at the University of Wyoming, died on Oct. 12 after spending several days in critical condition at a Fort Collins, Colo., hospital. In what was labelled a hate crime, the gay student was allegedly beaten and tied to a fence by Arthur Henderson, 21, and Aaron James McKinney, 22, whose first-degree murder charges could carry the death penalty. The case served as a reminder of the still volatile animosity toward gays in the U.S.